Ascona Training Camp

Part 1, 25 - 28 May 2016

24 May 2016

The squad (minus Toni Kroos and Lukas Podolski who still have club commitments) touched down in sunny Lugano after an afternoon flight from Frankfurt, and made their way to their base on Lake Maggiore.

Joachim Löw bullish over Germany's Euro 2016 prospectsSpeaking to Stern magazine, Low said he is confident he has the players to achieve the double and is hoping his Bayern Munich contingent can lead the team to victory."I believe that players like Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels, who now lead the side with Manuel Neuer, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira, will get the team on course," he said."This team wants to be crowned European champions.""I've been coach of Germany for a long time now and in spite of all of our friendly and qualifying games, it's the tournaments which give me the greatest motivation," he said."We want to prove ourselves once again and confirm our success. Once you've had this feeling of glory, then it's something which drives you on to feel it again."I want this pressure; I need it in order to get even better. I even enjoy the pressure to a certain extent."

I hope to upload a transcription of the full interview in Stern to my Magazine Articles section shortly!

At his first press conference since arriving in Ascona, Joachim Löw described the conditions there as ideal and said they could not be better.

The discussion soon moved on to that of injuries and the need for the players to recover from a hard domestic season. Joachim Löw brought the news that Mats Hummels had suffered a slightly pulled calf after the DFB Cup final but saw no danger of him missing the tournament. "We will have to take it day by day though."

He explained that this week would be one of working with different groups and hopefully getting everyone to the same level by early next week. "The Bundesliga season only finished for some players ten days ago, while others played in the DFB Cup final a few days ago. Lots of players are only able to train individually and are still not fully recovered and ready to go again."

"When I name my final squad, then I will be convinced that each player, regardless of age, will be able to make their contribution in games," he said at a press conference in Ascona, Switzerland, on Wednesday."We've got up to May 31 and we've got to see after the weekend who is going to make it and who we can plan on, also after consulting with the doctors, but I can't judge that now."I'm not concerned about it, though. If we lose somebody to injury, then we've always got another player ready."We're not going to grumble. We have a good, balanced team and this is decisive. We are strong and it makes no sense to cry over any player who is not here, so I'm relaxed."

"We've got to wait and see these next few days how things are with Schweinsteiger," Low said."Maybe come Friday or Saturday we'll discuss how things are going. He has a good basis and I'm optimistic about him and the coming weeks. Of course he needs to get into a rhythm first."

Should either miss out, it would only increase the chances of Low naming some of his younger, inexperienced players in his final squad, even if he says he would have no qualms about doing so."We had our first training session this morning and my very first impression is that Joshua Kimmich and Julian Weigl are both very comfortable on the ball, and very secure, confirming what I have already seen of them for their clubs," Low said."Julian Brandt has other abilities like going one-on-one with the ball. We know Leroy Sane already because he was with us in November and he makes good runs deep and quickly.These players have all been capable, in their first training with the national team - which should be a pretty daunting occasion - to make a great impression, as if it were totally normal."What more can I ask?"

"We always stayed in touch and discussed his situation," Low said at the inaugural news conference at Germany's training camp in Switzerland on Wednesday."There were offers and enquiries for Mario, but I had the feeling that Mario's heart is in Munich. He wants to stay at Munich for another year and take his chance there."

Other points:- Sami Khedira will join training tomorrow.- It will be an unbelievably tough decision to name final 23 players. Not worried, has a good well-balanced team.- He spoke of his confidence in the French security forces, and said that security would again be discussed with the players.- Spoke of Mesut Özil's development in the Premier League.- Hoped Toni Kroos would win the Champions League with Real Madrid at the weekend.- Looked back on his last tournaments as coach. "In 2008 we were at the start of our plan. In 2010, we made the next step. In 2014 we were on our peak. There was a major development in these eight years up to today." He added he had also developed personally as a coach and learned from his own mistakes.

Looking ahead to the friendly against Slovakia on Sunday, he said "I can't specifically say today who will and who won't be involved on Sunday. Any players carrying an injury or whom it would be a risk to play won't take part because I'm not taking any chances."

In the evening the U20's were the senior team's opponents, as in Brazil, for a practice match on Thursday evening, with the senior team coming out 7-0 winners. There were three goals scored in the opening two quarters, with Mario Götze breaking the deadlock on 19 minutes, before strikes from Mario Gomez and Leroy Sane. The third quarter finished goalless, before a Karim Bellarabi brace and goals from Andre Schürrle and finally Julian Draxler wrapped up a 7-0 win. The idea of the match is to simulate Germany's group stage opponents. Some highlights from tv.dfb.de - the match itself was held behind closed doors.

At the national team press conference today, Andreas Köpke announced that Bernd Leno will make his debut for Germany against Slovakia. However he could be swopped with Marc-Andre ter Stegen at half-time. Manuel Neuer will be rested. Jonas Hector will play on the left of defence. It was also revealed that some players will remain in Ascona to continue their individual recovery programmes.

Löw le desea suerte al Real Madrid de Toni KroosOn the day of the Champions League Final the Spanish press reported Jogi's good luck wishes to Toni Kroos' Real Madrid. "Of course we are going to watch the game" he was quoted "and naturally hope Real Madrid will win."

At the DFB press conference this morning, Joachim Löw said he was happy with the progress so far in the training camp, the players with knocks making progress every day. The atmosphere is good, but also well-focused. He confirmed that Bernd Leno will start in goal tomorrow and that Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Thomas Müller, Karim Bellarabi (suffered a slight sprain in the U20 game), Mesut Özil and Manuel Neuer will remain in Ascona. Lukas Podolski will meet the team in Ausgburg and fly back with them.

Julian Brandt, Julian Weigl and Joshua Kimmich will all be given debuts tomorrow. Leroy Sane will play at least 45 minutes.

When asked about the possibility of any of the debutants making the final 23, he replied "I don't want to make a final judgement on that issue yet. The game is important and I plan on giving all of them some time on the pitch - Julian Brandt, Julian Weigl and Joshua Kimmich will definitely make an appearance. Leroy Sane will play at least 45 minutes. I want to see them in this game. They are technically skilled and each has their own strengths that they bring to the team. They are eager to learn new things and ask us questions. They are completely focussed and I don't want to put them under any pressure. With all the tension that we experience, I don't want them to forget to stay loose. They are allowed to make mistakes. Even if some of them don't make the final squad, we will certainly see them again after the tournament."

He will decide tomorrow who will captain the side against Slovakia.

On the match against the U20's on Thursday evening: "We played out various scenarios. One time they were supposed to attack us high up the pitch and put pressure on us and then we had them defend from a really deep position. On a few occasions we managed to find the right solutions, but at times also failed to find the right time for a pass. We had good moments but sometimes also took too long to circulate the ball around and couldn't close in on the target. There were some critical points in terms of positions and who to play on the position. Obviously you will learn things from these type of games."

"The players nursing minor injuries are improving daily. I'm talking about Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mats Hummels and Marco Reus."Karim Bellarabi picked up a slight strain against the U20 side, but we expect him to return to running sessions tomorrow or the day after."We will sit down with our medical staff on Monday and discuss the situation. At the moment it looks quite promising with the injured players. Schweinsteiger is training at his maximum conditional level -- but matches and training are two different things."We will get an idea of the situation of each individual player and then make a final decision on Tuesday."

Löw said Slovakia, who he described as "organised and quick at the back," would provide a stern test for his side as they step up their preparations for the tournament in France.But he added: "The result isn't overly important. It's also worth noting that our training is geared towards the start of the tournament. Therefore it could be the case that our performance won't be as energetic as usual on Sunday."

Away from the international scene, Jogi seemed somewhat annoyed when, yet again, he was asked about the Mario Götze on-off transfer saga.I have had enough of Götze transfer talk - Germany's Löw"I am not interested in this talk any more," Löw, who days ago had suggested a move would be good for Götze, told reporters at the German training camp on the shores of Lake Maggiore."This is something that I do not want to be confronted with any more and I will not talk about it again.""It has been a few days now that I am not interested in this issue any more and I am also not interested in who says what.""Mario Goetze is a player with a lot of abilities. After such an emotional moment (World Cup 2014) it is not unusual for a player to experience a slump.""All players who have transfer issues should now deal with them after the Euro. Not now," added Löw, who team are eyeing their first continental title in 20 years.Löw: I don't regret telling Gotze to outshine MessiLow admitted after that triumph in Brazil that he had told Gotze to "show the world you are better than Messi and can decide the World Cup", but he denies that such comments have put the former Borussia Dortmund man under undue pressure to perform ever since."The fact that I told public that I said to him 'Show the world that you are better than Messi', I don't see this as a mistake. I do not regret it. I think Mario can handle it."